Coin Collectors Thread

[USAbro]

I'll decide if this set of coins gets to Mattronium, I may send more to other people. I have over 200 1943 zinc pennies. And over 50 silver quarters. And more.

 

[USAbro]

These coins are ones I do not care about from my collection. It is fine to give them to some one who would enjoy them more. As they are collection dust, but are not enough value that any shop would buy them imo.

 

[ChaosLord]

I used to collect them years ago. Still have them. I've got $2.50, $5, and $10 gold peices, a few Morgan silver dollars, the list goes on.

I had a thing for odd denominations like half cents, 2 cent peices, 3 cent peices, ect. I especially liked the 3 cent silvers. I'll see if I can dig out my collection and post pics.

 

[USAbro]

I was wondering does anyone have a 1928 double eagle. If you do, I'd love to see it!

 

[Zathras]

Let's start with something small. Three (3) coins from the year of the California Gold rush. A bit of trivia comes at the last post regarding the Gold Rush.

The smallest coin in value ever minted by the US Government.

A 1849 1/2 cent in MS62. This coin probably lived it's life in someone's collection due to the sharp detail that you can't really see from my lousy pic.

 

[Zathras]

Next up from the year 1849 is the smallest $1 Gold coin ever minted by the U.S. Government.

This coin is AU58 from the New Orleans Mint. For the un-collector AU = Almost Uncirculated. This coin was in circulation for a short period of time before landing in someone's collection. Again a lousy pic does this coin no justice.

edit: I wanted to add that there is only 0.0484 troy ounces of gold in one of these coins.

 

[Zathras]

And finally from the year 1849, a 1849 $10 Eagle gold coin.

I got mildly $crewed when I bought this ungraded coin. I sent it in for grading and it came back, "improperly cleaned". So no grade is given and the value of the coin is not much better than the price of gold spot.

edit: I wanted to add that there is only 0.484 troy ounces of gold in one of these coins. Which if you notice is 10X the $1 coin ounces.

But I like it anyway as it is the largest value Gold coin minted by the US Government in 1849.

Now for the Gold Rush trivia.

There was no $20 "double eagle" gold coin produced in 1849. The largest value gold coin was the $10 "eagle". So if anyone ever offers to sell you a 1849 $20 double eagle, run, it's a fake. You can google that if you want. Oh yeah, there is 1 or 2 in the Smithsonian but that's it.

edit: In the early 19th century, U.S. gold coin denominations had not exceeded $10 due to modest demand and limited gold supplies. Then, on January 24, 1848, the California Gold Rush began and over a half-million “Forty-Niners” made gold supplies plentiful. In February 1849, Congress authorized the striking of $20 gold coins and the “Double Eagle” was born. The first two $20 Liberty Gold pieces were struck—the ONLY ones to ever bear the date 1849. Now, over one hundred and sixty years later, only one single 1849 $20 Gold Piece survives. Housed in the Smithsonian Institution, it is a gleaming reminder of America’s Gold Rush.

There is no gold from the gold rush of 1849 in 1849 gold coins. How could there be? The Gold Rush only started in 1849. There was no San Francisco Mint until years later, so any gold mined had to be refined, shipped and minted in the same year. Didn't happen.

Hope you enjoyed the tour.

 

[USAbro]

Ooooh, how much are they worth Zathras?

 

[Zathras]

I bought these coins years ago, so I didn't pay these prices.


The 1/2 cent coin in MS62 currently has an approx value of $465, or about 93000 times it's face value.

The $1 gold coin in AU58 currently has an approx value of $450, or about 450 times it's face value. It's melt value (for the gold content of 0.0484 oz) is $58 with gold at $1200/oz.

The $10 gold coin because it was improperly cleaned, has no real value beyond the value of the gold content of 0.484 oz. and with gold at about $1200/oz, is only worth about $586. If it had been AU58, it would be worth about $1400, at MS62 about $9500.

Although I am disappointed the $10 coin, 'did not grade', I am happy to have it. I would not be able to afford it at the mentioned grades anyway. When I bought the coin raw (ungraded) I only expected it to grade around VF = Very Fine anyway. But the 'fondle' factor of being able to hold an 1849 gold coin in your hand takes away some of the disappointment.


For the un-collector, the worst thing you can do to a coin is clean it. Making an old coin, nice and shiny, only degrades is value. One might think a shiny coin would sell better, yet that is not true. When you clean it, you will possibly scratch it or leave a chemical residue on it from the cleaning chemical you used. These methods will show up upon close examination. Coin collectors prefer dirty coins. Really.

I remember when I was a young boy, I cleaned a penny with a pencil eraser to make it shine. Ooops. It was really scratched, but it was shiny! Luckily it was only a 1955 (MS63=$8) and not a 1955 double die (MS63=$2500). After the cleaning my penny was worth exactly, $0.01.

 

[USAbro]

Mattronium, your coins are on there way.

 

[Mattronium]

Thanks so much. Still can't +REP you, gota "spread it around".


Oh, and welcome back.oke::tinfoil:

 

[USAbro]

Better wait to rep until they arrive. JK

 

[Dr_Evil]

Here's some of the stuff I have at home. Some aren't coins but IDC. Some of the pictures suck for some reason. I think something may be going on with my DSRL. It has been giving me fits about focusing with all on my lenses.

Various foreign coins.

I found a lot of the older stuff in this picture in change. The wheat penny is from 1919.

2013 West Point 1 oz silver dollar set. One is reverse proof and the other is enhanced uncirculated. I have 2 sets of these that I bought when they came out. I'll sell the second one sometime.

Vairous bills. Two sets of 5 $1 bills in sequential order along with 5 $5 bills. I got them for taking a survey on watching TV. I don't even watch TV...

Morgan Dollar. I want to have this graded someday. I paid that price quite at least 10 years ago.

 

[USAbro]

Put the silver dollars in plastic cases. They'll last longer that way (stay shiny without tarnishing).

 

[starlight]

Vairous bills. Two sets of 5 $1 bills in sequential order along with 5 $5 bills.

sequential bills you can get from an ATM machine or any withdraw from a bank. I get them all the time without asking.


A friend in highschool got a birthday gift wrapped in a money sheet. His grandparents got a sheet of $1 bills uncut and used as wrapping paper.

Anyway thought I would throw a few picture up

Nickel and Dime from 40's probably worth 5 and 10 cents respectively

A silver color penny from 50's. I can't remember what caused this

Susan B Anthony dollar (I remember getting these as change instead of quarters when they came out) and a half dollar missing a piece.

My penny I put on a train track

My "in honor" of President Kennedy $5 bill with blood red serial numbers

And my $2 bill

I think I got around $8.67 total value there.

and my silver key chain that I used for about 5 years.

 

[Mattronium]

The 1945 Nickle is $0.93, and the dime $1.2, info (here).

The "silver" 1958 penny is definitely not silver though. It would have to be plated with zinc or another metal I guess.

Unique half dollar.